


Scared Chances

by Gravytrain101



Series: Avenger's Oneshots [7]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Adult Steve, Adult Tony, Caring Adults, Helpful Steve, Helpful Tony, Kid Clint, M/M, Orphan Clint, Past Abuse, Scared kid, child Clint, deafness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-19 11:00:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29749491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gravytrain101/pseuds/Gravytrain101
Summary: On the way back to the tower after a battle, Tony sees a child crouching beside a dumpster in an alleyway in the middle of winter. He decides to make a pit stop and talk the child into coming back to the tower with him. Great. He's done that, but what is he and Steve going to do with a kid? Better yet, will the child even allow Steve and Tony to help him?
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Avenger's Oneshots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875934
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	Scared Chances

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first Avengers fic in a long while. Since my writing style has improved since I've started writing, I thought I'd go back to one of my favorite fandoms. Have always wanted to write a story with a young Clint, so here you go. Please read and enjoy!

Tony’s POV:   
“Everything’s all cleared up here,” Steve announced through the comms as I was flying through the streets, making sure there was no bad guy to be taken care of nor a civilian in trouble. 

“Great. God, I hate the winter. Don’t you guys? I’m getting out of this cold, meet you guys back at the tower,” I said as I glanced down one more alleyway to only stop in my tracks. 

I saw what looked like a person crouched down next to a dumpster in a dirty, cold alley. As I got closer, I realized it was a child that was sitting alone in the cold. Damn. It would be nice to get close enough to him without scaring him or doing anything to make him run off. 

“Hey buddy,” I started as I had my face out, so he could see it as well as my hands up, so he could hopefully see I wasn’t here to cause any harm, “My name is Tony. Can you tell me yours?” 

“Clint,” he muttered as he wrapped his arms around his torso as tightly as he could. 

“Can you tell me how old you are Clint?” I asked as the wind started to pick up. 

“12,” he answered as he shivered as the cold wind caused goosebumps that ran across his whole body. 

“Where are your parents buddy?” I asked as I tried to keep the situation as calm as I could. 

“Dead,” he said in a way that makes me think he was there for it. Something in his voice sounded like he was flashing back to the day it happened. What the hell happened to this kid? 

“Listen. I have a nice, warm place just a couple blocks from here. Would you like to come with me? We can get you some warmer clothes and a good place to sleep?” I asked, hoping he would take the bait. 

“I can’t pay you,” he told me as he looked down at his feet. 

“Hey, that’s okay. What I’m offering you is free of charge,” I explained as I held out my hand, “Please?” 

I stood there with my hand held out to him, waiting for him to answer. And to be frank, I wasn’t going to take “no” for an answer. He was coming with me whether he liked it or not. Luckily, this kid has some common sense and took my hand. I scooped him up in my arms and flew back to the tower as fast and as carefully as I could. Jeez. I wonder what Steve’s going to say about me taking a kid in from the streets. 

Steve’s POV:   
“You found a kid? Where?” I asked, “Why did you bring him here?” 

“I found him hiding in an alleyway after our fight. It’s the middle of winter and I thought I’d help him out. So, I talked him into coming home with me and I put him in our bedroom,” Tony answered as he stepped closer to me, “Plus, we’ve always wanted a kid!” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of adopting Tony. Not kidnapping,” I sighed. 

“Already took care of that,” he said as he put his hand on my arm, “The kid said he’s been living on the streets for the past 2 years.” 

“He’s a runaway?” I asked, already feeling bad for this kid that Tony somehow didn’t kidnap. 

“Not necessarily. He said his parents are dead, and he has no other family,” he answered, “Besides that and his name I got nothing more out of him.” 

“His parents are dead?” I said, my heart aching for this boy in our bedroom, “What’s his name? Do you know how old he is?” 

“His name is Clint Barton, and he’s 12,” he said as he rubbed his hand up and down my arm, “So? Can we keep him?” 

“He’s a human being Tony, not a dog,” I told him as I walked past him to go see Clint, “Just let me check in on him first.” 

“Here,” Tony interrupted me before I opened the door. 

“Water?” I asked as I took the bottle of water he held out to me. 

“He looked dehydrated when I found him. Probably hasn’t eaten anything either. I tried to get him to eat or drink something when I brought him in, but he refused,” he explained as he scratched his head, “I’ll go to the kitchen and get him something to eat.” 

“Okay,” I told him, “Good idea. I’ll go check on him.” 

I lightly knocked twice on the door before I opened it a crack and peeked my head in. 

The first thing I saw was a clean, untouched bed. No kid. There’s no way he could’ve gotten out through the window because we are in the Avenger’s Tower. And there’s no way he could’ve gotten out through the door because Tony’s been watching it like a hawk… well, Jarvis has more than Tony. 

My eyes quickly scanned the room before they fell on the boy Tony was telling me about. He was sitting in the corner of the room, facing the door. He had his knees brought up to his chest with his arms tightly around his legs. His head rested on top of his knees while his eyes stayed open and peeled. Scanning the room, taking in his surroundings, and keeping his tabs on me. 

“Can I come in?” I asked, not wanting to barge in and scare the kid further.

I entered the room once I saw a small nod come from the kid shoved into the corner. 

“My name is Steve,” I told him as I cautiously made my way towards him and sat down on the floor a couple feet from him, “What’s your name?” 

“Clint Barton,” he mumbled as he continued to watch me, not trusting me to take his eyes off me for one second. 

“My husband and I. Tony and I are not here to hurt you. We are here to help you, okay?” I asked as I held out the bottle of water, “This is for you. Tony is grabbing you something to eat from the kitchen.” 

He wordlessly reached out and grabbed the bottle from my hand, but didn’t unscrew the cap. He just set it down next to his hip and continued to watch me. 

“Do you mind telling me how old you are?” I asked, not caring that I already know this information. It would be nice to start a conversation with Clint, and let him know that I care. 

“12,” he answered. 

“Where are your parents? Do you have any family members we can call?” I asked as I heard Tony walk down the hallway. 

“No. All dead,” he told me before his eyes snapped up to Tony who now stood in the doorway. 

“Hey,” Tony softly said as he made his way to sit next to me, “I made some toast for you. I also brought fruit snacks, a granola bar, and tomato soup. Didn’t know how hungry you are or what you wanted.” 

Again. He maintained eye contact while he reached for the food. He grabbed the plate and set it on the side opposite of the water bottle I gave him a few minutes earlier. Never once did he stop monitoring me or Tony. 

“If you don’t want any of that, that’s okay. We have a huge kitchen with anything you could ever want in it,” Tony explained, “Just let us know. Steve and I are here for you.” 

“Why am I here?” he suddenly asked, “What do you want from me?”

“We do not want anything,” I told him, “We only want to help you.”

“It’s getting late so tell you what,” Tony started, “Why don’t you get something to eat and drink. I will scrounge up some clothes for you while you take a shower. Then we’ll all get some rest, and we’ll talk in the morning. You can ask us any questions you’d like in the morning. That’ll probably work better since I’m assuming you’re tired. But we can talk now if you’d like?” 

“Tomorrow,” he told Tony. 

“Okay, we’ll talk tomorrow,” Tony said as he stood up, “I will go get some clothes for you and Steve will help you out with everything else.” 

“You go ahead and eat something,” I told him once Tony left while I grabbed a book from the top of the dresser that was next to me, “I’ll read until you’re done. Take your time, no need to rush.”

I opened the book and pretended to be engrossed with the story on the page when I was actually keeping an eye on Clint. A couple of minutes into my “reading” I heard him take a bite of the toast Tony made him and open the bottled water. We sat in silence together while he ate, and he cleared his throat as a signal to me to let me know he was done. 

The both of us got up and made our way to the master bathroom, which was conveniently connected to the master bedroom. I was showing him where everything was and explaining how the knobs work on the shower when I noticed he was still maintaining eye contact. I shrugged it off, no need to get freaked out over a 12-year-old making eye contact with me. He’s probably scared and doesn’t want to turn his back to me. I’d do the same thing if I were in his shoes. 

Once I was sure he didn’t need any more help with the bathroom, I told him we would be giving him some privacy while he showered. I said that the only time we would open the door is to put some pajamas Tony found on the bathroom counter. And he still kept eye contact while I told him these things. After the explanations and once I was happy he understood, I left the room to let him shower. 

“So,” Tony started as he crossed his arms, “What do you think?” 

“He’s definitely been through a lot. That’s obvious. But what? I have no idea,” I sighed, “What are we going to do Tony?” 

“I already have Jarvis looking into every boy named Clint that was born 12 years ago,” he said. 

“I can narrow your search down a little. His last name is Barton. I didn’t get a middle name though,” I shrugged, “Sorry.” 

“No need to be sorry baby,” he told me, “You get that Jarvis? Barton.” 

“I got it sir,” Jarvis responded. 

“As for what we’re going to do while we have him, we take it one step at a time. First let the three of us get a good nights sleep before we jump to any conclusions,” he explained as he gestured to the guest bedroom we have just a few doors down, “We’ll sleep in there tonight. No need to move him to a different room when he’s just getting used to that one.” 

“Right,” I sighed, “I just hope we can do something for him.”

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you liked it! Again, first Avengers fic in a long while, so please feel free to give me feedback. Looking forward to writing more of this. Thank you for reading.


End file.
